sc354

So we got hit today with some nice wet snow. I took advantage and went to a court near my house and did a ton of donuts. BTW I have a couple questions.

1) Is there any way to perform donuts without ****ing up your car? I shut VSA off, and simply took the turn very wide while slamming the brakes, the ABS kicked in, but the damn car seemed to grip. In my next run, I hit the foot brake (E-brake), and the car did like 5 solid turns, and I kept it going by punching the gas. Is this really really bad for the car? is there any alternative to doign donuts without totally f*cking up our cars?

2) Although the tires gripped while doing the donuts, they slip like mad a$$ on the regular roads. Would the Dunlop Winter Sport M2 tires really make a difference in this type of snow? The texture of the snow is wet, however great for packing (snowman and so on), and it's between 0 and -1 Celcius here, so it's staying on the ground. Will winter tires make a world of a difference on the snow???

thanks guyz.

Tatewaki

I can answer your #1 in a diff way. I watched this being done on a video. But I can't find where I got it from. Here is what you do:

- get some plastic trays, like those you get in food courts
- put them under your rear wheels
- engage e-brake
- floor the car and let it slide
- be careful of the hot, melting tray come flying to bystanders / objects

samkws

well
i live in TO too...and the TL's traction is one of the better cars around......

but nth compares to the domestics like Buic.... they stick on road like it never spins off...haha

sc354

it's funny you mention that. My grandmother drives a buick park avenue. On friday night when it was really heavily snowing, she asked me to move her car. So I went out and deicded to take the car for a spin first. That's when I realized how bad our TL's are on snow. I went through many patches of ice, and couldn't get that thing to lose control. She has a set of Kumho All seasons on there, and the traction is the best I have ever seen on any car.

How do they make that car so stable on ice???

njtls

you know front wheel drive cars cant do donuts.....they can only spin out of control

fla-tls

Yeah, those Michelin MXM4's score at the bottom of their categoy on the Tire Rack's survey page. They're the worst tire I've ever had. They only get a 4.6 for snow traction (the worst in the category).

Tatewaki

Traction (friction) is proportional to weight (normal force)

fsttyms1

i have the Dunlop Winter Sport M3 and they are AWSOME in snow! much better than the mich alpins. so yea they would make a difference. as for the donut question, it really wount hurt the car if you are on snow. dry pavement will put alot of stress on the tiny parking brake

sc354

see when I was on snow, I basically kicked the parking brake so it was engaged, and then floored the gas. Does this wreck the parking brake a lot???

I figure if anything goes wrong, I'll go to acura and have them replace it, and simply blame it on me always having to use it to compensate for our ****ty tranny's always feeling like they're about to die.

njtls

i doub tyou do any dmaage in the snow...i do it all the time on normal dry pavement...altho....my parking break seems to have lost its bite

sc354

is it normal after a while to smell something...not quite a burning smell??? btw one thing I found very awkward. After doing a dozen or so donuts in the car, I went back to my cousins house down the street, where I would have assumed the back brakes would have been boiling. the rotors were room temperature. I would have thought they would be extremely hot, or is the parking brake separate from the rear brakes???

njtls

well you must remember that when the parking brak is engaged..the brakes are locked up..so theiors nothing moving so no friction is being created..there for no heat...

and about thge smell...i get a weird smell to after i drive my car...hard or otherwise...its not really burning...but almost?..i dont know...it bothers me..smells like my cars burning away

sc354

hehehehe I know

fsttyms1

also the parking brake on the tl is a drum brake. its on the inner part of the rear rotor. but like njtls said the brake is locked up so there isnt friction being applied to the rotor so it wouldnt be hot

disgookonfiya

humm... i never driven in snow, then again i never seen it either really..... but down here, i used to do doughnuts in my maxima in dry pavement, all i did was pull up the parking brake and put the car in reverse, and hit the gas hard while turning the wheel.... the tires break loose easily on my maxima, so it wasn't that hard to get it to spin around.....

samkws

lol

i used to own the buick regal b4 the TL and i had the same experience too...and never had any problem with my cheap stock good year ties...hahahahahha...

that's how the domestics gd at, they are designed for the weather in north america...easy to drive and gd traction at snow(probably becoz of the super long wheelbase and not-so-sharp steering)

btw my regal was a little lighter than the TL....3400lb vs 3600lb~

hemants

If you're looking for a one tire solution then get Nokian WR's from STeelcase.

They are way better than the MXM4 on snow AND they will be better on dry pavement as well. Those MXM4's might very well be the worst tire evAR.

FidizzyTypeS

The smell you guys are talking about are the gases that are built up when braking on the front rotors. The gases escape once you stop braking. Pad against metal = friction = things rubbing together burning.

slotted rotors would cut down on this

dlpickering

So, for probably the hundredth time on this forum, let me ask . . . . what's the best all-season for this climate? I want grip in light to moderate snow, but I also want a smooth and quiet ride. I've narrowed my search to either the 215/50//17 Continental ContiExtreme or the 225/45/17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. I'm a bit concerned about the 245 on a 6.5" rim. Thoughts / suggestions anyone? Thanks,

hemants

Nokian WR is the ONLY one tire solution for this climate - it's an all season tire designed for all of Finland's seasons.

But personally, I prefer seperate summer and winter tires. It works out cheaper that way.

Bxscig

I was up there on this wkend with the rain and snow. Entire car was covered in ice. I slipped like once or twice where VSA turned on but I think other than that it was fine. Most of the snow all dried up by the afternoon.

fsttyms1

the mich pilot sport A/S is about the best but its pricy! the sumitomo HTR+ is a great all season tire (the best i have driven other than the pilot a/s) great dry and wet weather performance and will handle good in snow. the other choice is the continental extreme contact, also a very good all season tire